Heart, City, and Sword
by AcuteHedgehog
Summary: The mildly comedic (mis)adventures of an unremarkable Nord woman...who just so happens to be the Dragonborn, much to her disdain. Telling you now, there /is/ some not-so-savory language, so no saying I did not warn you!
1. This is why there are maps

**I only own my character and this story idea; Skyrim belongs to Bethesda.**

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"I do not see why we could not travel by wagon, my Thane."

Eris stopped, turning her head to shoot a withering glare at her housecarl. Lydia blinked and took a step back. She could swear that the corner of Eris' eye was twitching, which she had learned meant that her Thane was intensely annoyed. Eris turned the rest of herself around to face her startled housecarl, and took a deep breath.

"Lydia, I like you and consider you a friend. Something you do not know about me, though, is that my earliest memory of Skyrim is of being bound and tossed bodily into a cart to be hauled off to Helgen to be executed. No idea why they were going to, but they were going to. Then suddenly, Alduin. So, can you see why I am not all that fond of carts?"

Lydia swallowed and held a hand to her neck. She may be a seasoned warrior, but no one likes the thought of their head being lopped off. With her head tilted and an eyebrow quirked, Eris gave the faintest of smiles, then whirled and began walking down the path.

"No worries, Lydia m'dear. We should be reasonably near Falkreath sometime soon. In fact, I think I see their lake!...but it looks so much smaller than people have lead me to believe. Oh look, buildings! Told you we would get there."

Lydia sighed and followed, muttering under her breath as Eris continued to skip and hum towards the town's entrance. As they neared it, a guard rushed forward, halting them.

"Halt! You need to pay a visitor's fee before you can have the honor of entering Riften."

"Oh for fuck's sake, you mean I went the wrong direction again?! Lydia, why did you not tell meee?!" Eris whined. Lydia in response rolled her eyes, shaking her head slightly.

"As if you would have listened to me, my Thane." Lydia replied in a snarky manner, at which Eris blinked in surprise, then smiled a coquettish grin.

"Glad to see I have been rubbing off on you, hon. Now!" She twirled and pointed dramatically at the bewildered gate guard. "Are you going to quit bullshitting us and let us in already, or are you really going to let two sweet, innocent little girls huddle outside the big, safe walls of the city all night?" she simpered, fluttering her eyelashes.

The guard swallowed audibly, then shuffled off to unlock the gates. "Just...just do not tell anyone, alright?" he muttered as Lydia and Eris dashed through. As they began to walk towards what was obviously the market, they were accosted by a large, grungy looking man.

"Better not cause any trouble around here, if you know what is good for you."

Lydia put her hand on the hilt of her blade, whereas Eris just grinned up at him. "Okie-dokie, no worries there! Now come on Lyds, we need to find a tavern and get some real food, because honestly, you are a terrible cook and I am starving. Later, Mister!" With that, she grabbed Lydia's hand and dragged her away, Lydia laughing to herself at the look of outrage on the man's face.

Soon enough they were in the Bee & Barb, seated at a table and enjoying venison stew, bread, goat cheese and as many bottles of Black Briar mead as the barkeep would allow them. Once they had their fill, they gradually stumbled up the stairs in one another's arms, giggling madly and trying not to fall. The stumbled into their rented room, managing only to close the door and discard their weapons before pulling the blanket over themselves and falling into a heavy sleep.

The next morning Eris disentangled herself from Lydia and the bedding, and in the process managed to fall out of bed. She let out a whoosh of air as she landed hard on her side. Her legs were still hooked over the edge of the bed and she kicked frantically to try to remove them from the blanket they were wrapped in. Her flailing awakened Lydia, who groggily leaned over to look at her.

"Having some difficulty functioning this morning, my Thane?"

"Fuck you, Lydia. Unwrap my damn legs already," was the cranky reply.

Finally free and considerably more sober than the night before, Eris gathered up her gear. Pausing to scrub her face with cold water from the basin in the room, she turned to speak to Lydia only to find the housecarl had fallen back asleep. Pulling paper out from a pocket, she quickly scribbled a note stating she was going to the smithy. Her weapons and armor needed some minor repairs. Leaving it in a spot where it could not be missed, Eris then left the room, quietly closing the door behind her. After clomping down the stairs, she walked past the bartender carrying a plate of sweetrolls. Without a second thought, she deftly snagged one without being noticed, then snatched an unopened bottle of mead from a table. Breakfast procured, Eris shouldered open the door into the bright light of Riften's marketplace in the early morning.

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**So...who thought what about it, folks? Lemme know, eh?**


	2. The forge is not the only hot thing

The marketplace (if that was what you wanted to call the ramshackle handful of stalls) was not open yet. The merchants were rather lazily setting up, and Eris suspected that business was not the best for them. Especially not in a rundown little town so far (at least, she suspected it was) from areas of high traffic. Still though, she felt at ease here. Somewhere in the back of her mind, something told her she was used to places like this. Shrugging it off, she glanced around and spotted what she needed; the blacksmith's.

She walked towards it. It was closed right now, but that did not mean that she could not sit and wait for the smith. Her quiver was low and Eris had realized she needed more leather. Carefully balancing her breakfast she hopped up on the low wall that surrounded the market. Pulling the cork out of the bottle with her teeth and spitting it into the weeds at her feet, she sipped, ate and waited.

Riften was actually quite lovely in the morning. Everything had a rosy glow about it. The breeze was cool and gentle, and everything smelled like earth, ale and the smoke from the forge._ It is wonderful_, Eris thought was she took another bite of pastry. Just then, the door to the smith's house opened, and she choked as she inhaled in surprise. The person exiting glanced at her, then continued on to the work area and began to sharpen a sword at the grindstone.

Quickly finishing the pastry, she dropped down to the ground, brushing crumbs off her tunic as she did so. Grimacing at how disheveled her appearance must be, she brushed her hands together and ran one over her short hair, then made sure her circlet was in place. She adjusted her satchel and hesitantly walked towards the smith, nervously twisting her ring around her finger. As she approached, he turned to look at her.

"Come to see Balimund perform miracles with steel, eh?" he rumbled.

Eris blushed, hoping he would not notice. She saw his smile go from friendly to a somewhat amused smirk, and she bit her lip to keep from grimacing. Brash and straightforward as she was, she was still awkward around men she found attractive.

_Wait_, she thought. _Is this what it is? __Attraction? __Do I have a crush on someone that I just met? Sure, he is the perfect example of what Nord men should be, with his towering height, broad shoulders, strong physique..._

Blinking rapidly, she swallowed quickly and spoke in a rush. "Ineedtopurchasesomesupplies."

He let out a low, rumbling laugh, and nodded. "Give me just a moment and I will see about getting you what you need. Go ahead and tell me what all it is."

Eris exhaled, thanking the Divines that they were down to business. "Uhm...I need as many Elven and Dwarven arrows as you have, and my leather armor is more badly damaged than I first thought so I might as well make a new set. Tell me, does Riften have a court wizard?"

This time he let out a gravelly chuckle, and she suppressed the shiver that tried to crawl up her spine. "Dunno of any proper town that does not have one. Here we have Wylandriah. She is an odd one, but nice enough. You a mage?"

"Not really. I dabble in enchantments to fortify my armor. I need an enchanting table once I am done with my new set of leathers," she answered as he rose, towering over her. He lovingly set the blade he had finished working on aside, then started towards his door.

"I do not have what you are looking for out front right now, so it will take me a few minutes." he called. She nodded, walking around to get a feel for the space. The marketplace was starting to get a small crowd gathering, and before she knew it he was back. "Five dozen Elven and nine dozen Dwarven, and more than enough leather for you to create and improve your new set of armor. That will be a four hundred fifty-six Septims."

Eris fished out the coins from her satchel and handed them over. She fitted her arrows into her quiver, then headed over to the forge to get to work. Thankfully it was a cool day, because the more she worked near the flames the warmer she became. She wriggled about, trying to relieve the discomfort caused by the coarse garment she wore. As she tried to squirm without destroying her work, she felt a presence behind her and a hand clasp over hers. The hand then gently pried her tools from her, and her heart beat painfully in her chest.

"Let me take over here. Would not do to have you hurt yourself in all your wiggling." Balimund said, his tone gentle with a note of command behind it.

She knew she could protest, but it would not change anything. Letting out a breath she did not know she had been holding, Eris gratefully relinquished her task and went to sit down. She watched him work, watched the attention and detail be poured into her armor. Knowing it would be a while until he was finished, she rose and walked forward, lightly laying her hand on his back.

"Thank you so much for this. I have other tasks that need to be completed, though, but I will return soon enough to collect my things." she said softly, flustered by her forwardness, and then flustered again at being flustered. When did she ever worry about things like this? _I need a drink, because today is just all kinds of odd and mead fixes everything_, she thought. 


End file.
